by Mandy Harbin
“What the hell does the IRS have to do with the FBI?” Gauge asked.
“Besides having the same boss—i.e. the President?” She raised her eyebrow at him. Out of all the guys here, he should know how the government worked.
“Yeah, okay.” Gauge half-smiled.
“They’re reviewing Bartholomew Acquired Development, an entity that has taken a keen interest securing thousands of acres in Northern Louisiana.” She flashed a smile. “That’s our mark. We’ve code named them BAD, which isn’t a stretch since it’s the company’s acronym.”
“And they think the acronym is telling of the company’s activities?” Gauge asked in a tone that made her think he was mentally rolling his eyes.
“No, the full name is a mouthful. Besides, you know we love our codes. It was that or some reference to Bart Simpson. I don’t have to tell you the suggestions that came up bordered on the ridiculous.”
“Eat my shorts,” Hunter said in a perfect Bart impression.
Anna laughed. “Exactly.”
“So the IRS wants to find out if BAD is on the level,” Bear said, not really asking.
She answered him anyway. “Yes. They’ve purchased land and mineral rights all over the U.S. Revitalizing some areas, developing others.”
“That’s not against the law,” Roc said.
“True, but cornering a market to monopolize it is.” The corner of her mouth lifted. “And so is laundering money. Oh, and tax evasion. Hence the IRS.” She winked.
Even though her team was working with the SEC on this, Rick had decided it made more sense to say the IRS had instigated the investigation instead. Everyone paid taxes, and the reasoning had been it’d be easier to put the company under that agency’s scrutiny than it would the SEC, which mainly focused on securities companies. Mason Showalter was an investment guy, so it made sense why he was on the SEC’s radar. That excuse wouldn’t work beyond that connection, though. Anna had agreed with the decision to name the IRS, although she’d been too stunned at the time to voice that.
“So BAD’s been naughty,” Hunter said.
“The government thinks so, which is why some of the team is in the office digging through their current holdings and back taxes and sent me out to investigate their new fascination with Louisiana.”
“Tell me the code name for that is The Louisiana Purchase,” Hunter said, chuckling.
Anna laughed. “No, but I’ll put in the suggestion.”
Bear shifted and stood. “Rick said you needed Blade for this. Why?”
That ringing in her ears was her internal alarm clock beeping, signaling the snooze-button reprieve was over. Steeling her defenses and clamping down her body’s involuntary reactions, Anna looked at Blade.
And ignored the heat in his gaze he did nothing to hide.
“A Mr. Braxton Young owns shares in a privately-held company called Bayou Beasts.” Blade’s eyes narrowed, simmering some of the heat, and she continued. “We’ve learned Bayou Beasts has been approached by representatives of BAD inquiring on purchasing their land.”
“So? We get approached several times a year by someone interested in buying. We ain’t selling.” The hard look in his eyes told her that much was true, but she was here to change that opinion. Time to get him to agree.
“The feds want you to entertain their offer.”
“Fuck. That.” Blade stood.
She’d expected some resistance, but his strong stance was a little shocking to her. She was prepared to follow him out the door—not willing to be alone with him just yet, but not having much of a choice. Thankfully, Brody grabbed his arm, stopping his retreat, and stood beside him. When he spoke to Anna, he was much calmer than his colleague. “Why does the government want them to sell to a company under investigation?”
“We don’t, but BAD needs to believe Bayou Beasts is seriously considering it. It’d open up dialogue between the two companies, and hopefully we can learn something useful for the IRS to decide if formal charges are necessary.” She looked at Blade and tilted her head to the side, readying to pry into his connection with the company. “Why wouldn’t they sell? They sold to you.”
Blade scoffed. “My family owns that land. I was written out of the will, but after my father died, my mom transferred my share to me. It was her family land anyway.”
This was family land? Anna schooled her expression as emotions rioted inside her. Surely, the key players in this investigation already knew this wasn’t just a business investment for Blade, but his family. Jeez, that meant this was personal to him. Why wasn’t she told this? Granted, there was a small possibility her team wasn’t aware since Mason Showalter wasn’t an owner of Bayou Beasts, and he was the true mark of this investigation. Well, the SEC’s investigation. Either way, she’d have to contact Rick with this news. Anna had either learned more in her brief time here than her team had realized, or she needed to chew her boss out for withholding intel. Regardless, her previous worry of betraying Blade just increased a million fold since they weren’t dealing with some nameless business partners. What a mess.
“How long has it been in your family?”
“Since The Louisiana Purchase,” he said, deadpan.
Hunter chuckled, and Anna cracked a smile, but she kept her focus on Blade, which was both extremely difficult and incredibly easy. “I guess it doesn’t matter when they bought it, just that they have it now. This actually makes things easier. We can drive down and be directly involved in the negotiations instead of getting information secondhand or through surveillance.” This could definitely work in their favor, which made her feel like a crappy person.
“I’m not getting my family involved.”
“And you’re not going anywhere!” Brody crossed his arms, but his eyes looked almost wild. What the hell? “I need you here for the wedding.”
“That’s still months—”
Brody’s gaze cut to Bear, and he cut him off by saying, “Xan’s pregnant. We’re moving up the wedding.”
There was a chorus of congratulations and back claps. All Anna was thinking was pregnancy…wedding…distractions. None of it made any sense, but all translated into complications.
“Shit, when?” Roc asked suddenly.
Brody winced. “Sorry, man. I was gonna talk to you after the meeting. We just found out yesterday. She hasn’t gone to the doc yet, but she’s insisting on getting married as soon as possible. And before you say it, she’s against eloping. She wants the ceremony, reception, the works.”
Roc swore and looked away. His face was red, and Anna was confused by the whole exchange.
“Are you really thinking about breaking a pregnant woman’s heart?” Blade asked him.
Roc growled as he ran a hand through his dark hair. “Fuck. No. Fine. Let me know when she wants to do it, and I’ll make sure it’s good to go.”
“We’ll all help you get the barn ready,” Bear said.
Roc grumbled something, but Anna didn’t make out his words. The tone, however, was clear. “I’ll need a couple of weeks.”
“That’ll work.” Brody looked at Bear. “Which means Blade can’t go anywhere before then. I need him here. Shit’s gonna be fast and furious ’till the wedding.”
That would not work. At all.
“Sorry, but I need Blade on this case,” Anna said, and pursed her lips. She couldn’t back down from the sole reason she was here. If Blade didn’t help Anna, not only was her assignment fucked, but Blade would continue to work at the garage, negating Shelby’s cover reason for even being here. The upcoming nuptials threw a monkey wrench into both of the plans, so thinking quickly, she’d have to sell the argument that it was still doable. They’d just have to work around the wedding. Her gaze slid to Blade. “We can go to Louisiana and get the process rolling before you’d need to be back for the ceremony.”
He looked at her like she’d grown a second head. “I’m the best man. I can’t just show up right before the wedding. I have responsibilities. There’s th
e rehearsal, the bachelor party, and the manpower needed to help get it ready in time.” He shook his head. “I’m not leaving Brody to take care of this on his own.” It looked like he wanted to say more, but didn’t.
Crap. Very valid points. What could she say to that? If she didn’t come up with a way to convince him quickly, this mission was D.O.A.
“How many days do you have to be in town?” She’d never planned a wedding before, but by the sounds of it, it was a local thing. Everything already planned, just moved up because of the pregnancy.
“They’re supposed to get married in Roc’s barn, and it’s not even finished yet.”
“He’ll have us to help,” Gauge said. Anna glanced at him, and at least he looked as if he understood the need to see the assignment through.
Bear sighed, but it was a sound of resolve that eased Anna a little before he even spoke. “We don’t have a choice, man.” He looked at Anna. “Can you spend a week there getting things lined out, letting his family know what’s up, and then come back for a week to do wedding stuff?” He glanced at Brody. “Assuming Xan wants to do the wedding in two weeks?”
“I’ll get a date locked down tonight. At this point, though, I’m thinking two weeks from Saturday will work.”
Anna considered how they’d go about it if they stayed in Mayflower the week of the wedding. It would take time anyway to facilitate meetings with the company. They could go, do what they could themselves, and schedule face time with the other players for after the wedding. With technology, she wasn’t even sure if in-person meetings would be necessary after their initial visit. Either way, it was doable. As long as she maintained her need to work with Blade while they were here so she could dig into the real reason she needed to be so close to him. “I don’t have a problem with that.”
“I do,” Blade said to Brody. “I’m not leaving you, man. There’s so much shit you gotta do, and knowing you, you’ll try to do it all yourself and be stressed the fuck out.” He looked at Anna and leveled her with the coldest stare she’d ever seen from him. In that moment, he looked deadly. “No.”
“Blade,” Bear barked. “What part of we don’t have a choice do you not get?”
“We won’t let him take on everything alone,” Hunter said. “Within the next twenty-four hours, we’ll have wedding duties divided among the rest of us. We’ll all be so up in his business, he’ll be sick of us.”
Brody clapped Blade on the back. “I’d rather you be here, but Bear’s right. We don’t need to strain our relationship with the feds, and you’ll be here the week leading up to it, which is when I’m likely to go apeshit anyway.”
“And it might not even take us a week. Could just be a few days?” Anna said, trying to placate him.
After several tense seconds, Blade breathed, “Fine,” through gritted teeth. Then, shocking Anna, he took a step toward her. Her heart raced with both anticipation and trepidation. She fought the instinct to step back. “But I’ll say again, we are not involving my family. The last thing they need to worry about is some possible criminal snooping around.”
She licked her dry lips. If he didn’t like the first part of this, he was going to really hate what she was going to say next. “Good thing we can’t tell Bayou Beasts it’s a setup. We need their cooperation, but they have to believe it’s all legit.” Translation: he’d have to lie to his family.
“No fuckin’ way. They won’t ever sell.” He inched closer to her. “And they’re staying out of it.”
“Not an option,” she said, not backing down. Blade could be intimidating as hell, but she was resolved to have this work her way. Wedding wrinkle excluded. “We need them, and we can’t have them slipping up and blurting the truth. You know how cases work. This isn’t your first rodeo.”
Another step toward her. “When we need the cooperation of an ally, they are usually cleared to hear the particulars of a case.”
“This is a joint effort, and I’ve been given orders by my boss who was given orders by his. It’s not as if I can call him up and argue the point. Another agency is primary with this, and I’ve been told no one else besides the people in this room can know. My hands are tied.”
“So you expect me to lie to my family.”
Yes.
She wanted to deny it, but she couldn’t dig the hole of deceit any deeper. Instead, she said, “The government does.” When he just stared at her, she added softly, “Sometimes we have no choice.” The truth of those words hurt more than she could show. She hated lying to him about anything, especially something that would destroy any hope of them exploring things further between them, assuming there was a slim chance he’d want her for something more than friends-with-benefits, a prospect she’d shielded herself from six months ago. But now even something temporary and casual was out of the question because no way would he forgive her for dragging his family into all of this. The crushing reality of their situation hurt more than she imagined was possible.
He opened his mouth and slammed it shut before storming off. She watched him walk away, angry with herself, the system, and frankly, him. It wasn’t fair to put him in that category, but logic didn’t have a role right now.
“Give him a few days,” Bear said.
“We’re already on borrowed time.” Another statement laced with painful meaning.
“Give him a few days. He’ll do it,” Brody said, echoing their boss’s words.
Anna had no choice but to wait. Blade had no choice but to help. Neither had any other option but to go down this disastrous path.
Lying to him. Dragging his family into the investigation. Lying to his family.
All to investigate a man who might be crooked that was marginally linked to Blade…which snowballed into her team having to lie to the rest of the Bang Shift so the FBI could dig into their lives to see how far Colonel’s cover up went, even though they’d worked with these men on cases since that man had been exposed.
Disastrous path? That was a huge understatement.
There was no way these two combined missions wouldn’t detonate a bomb in the middle of several relationships.
Professional and personal.
Very, very personal.
Chapter Four
For the last few days, Blade had growled around, ignoring snide comments about his attitude, as he tried to wrap his head about this new development that thrust the woman of his fantasies back into his life.
Anna Sue Fisher.
God, he just didn’t know how to feel about all of this. He wanted her. Fucking badly. But this shit about his family? Yeah, that was a bucket of ice on his libido. He’d vacillated between being grateful circumstances had brought her back to town and being pissed off he was at the center of said circumstances. He didn’t know which reaction was worse. When he was thrilled she was back, he’d been fighting wood at the shop. Not where he wanted to be when his body reacted to visions of her writhing beneath him. Later that day, new anger surged about the position this assignment was putting him in, and he’d lashed out, going so far as to suggest one of the other guys work with her. And not just any guy. He’d actually suggest Roc.
Fucking Roc!
Hunter had even expressed some positive points about Roc going instead of Blade, but everyone knew he’d only said those things because he wanted that man as far away from his sister as possible.
Brody had yanked Blade to the side and told him to knock it off. He was in a bad way if he’d rather Roc not only interact with his family but also work closely with Anna. Jesus, Roc. Out of all the guys at the shop and in the crew, he was the most ruthless, the most calculating. The most lethal…and that was saying something since Blade had actually killed before.
Yeah, Blade seriously wasn’t thinking straight at all when it came to Anna Sue and this whole fucked up situation.
So Blade had relented, given up the fight, and accepted this damn assignment, which was why he was now sitting in the driveway of Anna Sue’s house waiting for her ass to get out
here. This had been the same house she’d lived in when she was here as extra eyes on Xan. A house that hadn’t been hers after all. It was an FBI safe house, a house she now shared with Shelby and would flee from again once her job was done.
Blade honked for the second time. A dick move, but he’d be damned if he went to her door like this was some kind of date. Besides, he had a lot of things he wanted to say to her, and if he went into the house, he’d get an audience for this speech. Nope, he needed stay in the SUV and wait for her. He also didn’t need to jump right into any serious conversation the moment he saw her. He took a calming breath. He’d waited six months. He could wait a little bit longer.
By the time Anna came out, he was almost back to his senses. Almost. She was laughing at something Shelby said as the fellow agent walked with her to his vehicle. Not that he paid the other woman any attention. Hell, he couldn’t even look at Anna’s face. She had on the tiniest pair of shorts and a skin-tight tank top. Fuuuuck.
The night they’d been together he’d spent a lot of time remembering every inch of her creamy thighs before feeling them wrapped around him. And now he had a gorgeous view of those legs.
“We need to go if we want to get there before dark,” he said, barely checking the edge in his voice he’d just spent several minutes trying to ease.
Anna’s gaze cut to his. “I know.” Then she looked at Shelby again, effectively cutting him off. “Call me if you need anything.” She tossed her bags in the back of the SUV.
“Will do,” Shelby said. “Be safe.” They hugged before Anna closed the back door and opened the passenger one. She slid in as Shelby waved at him. He gave her a quick nod and put the car in reverse, ready to be done with the goodbyes and on the damn road. Before he said anything else, Anna pulled out a rabbit ear keychain and hung it around the rearview.
“Surprised you still do that,” he snapped. Back in Dallas, he’d thought it cute when she hung rabbit ears from the rearview mirror. He’d even joked that she must have a case of them back home. She’d defended that they weren’t real rabbit’s feet, but the good-luck gesture made her feel safer. Silly, yes. But he hadn’t been about to look at a rabbit-foot keychain since then and not think of her. “Figured your luck ran out a long time ago.”